This is a blog of my experiences with dogs -- as an owner and as someone who worked with them professionally. Hopefully what I've learned from my experiences will also help you with caring for your own dog.

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Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Fun activity for dogs who like to "disembowel" their stuffed animal toys.

Does your dog like to do this:

Leopold
has always liked to "disembowel" his stuffed toys. I used to stop him
before he could completely ruin them and then repair any damage done.
The toy you seen in the photo was repaired probably ten times before I
gave up and let Leopold do what he really wanted to do: tear every piece
of stuffing out! What a mess. But at least he had fun.
Since
then I've come up with an activity for Leopold that works with the same
general principle (tearing out stuffing!), but is re-usable and easy to
clean up.

* * * WARNING!* * *This is not an activity you want to give
to a dog that is prone to swallowing pieces of fabric (or other things
they shouldn't be eating for that matter!). This is an activity I would
never give to my other dog, Halo, as she thinks fabric is delicious and likes to eat it.Though remember that it's always a good idea
to supervise your dog when it's playing with toys (especially when its
playing with pieces of fabric).

I
like to use the Hol-ee Roller because it's very durable and doesn't do a
lot of damage if my dogs accidentally whip it at something. For a game
I like to give my dogs that uses a smaller version of the Hol-ee Roller
ball, check out this post.
I use fleece fabric because its a thicker fabric and is also washable! I've cut my pieces into various sized strips.

HERE's what you do:
Stuff
the ball with the pieces of fleece! Then stuff some treats in the
ball. You don't have to add treats, but it can help make the game more
fun for the dog.
I like to actually roll up small treats in
some of the pieces of fleece. Then Leopold is not only more interested,
but because the treats are rolled up in fleece, he has to work a little
harder to get the treats--this is good mental stimulation as it
requires Leopold to figure out how to manipulate the pieces of fabric to
get at the tasty bits.

[Edit, Jan2014: I put a warning at the beginning of this post, but here it is again in different words.
Please supervise your dog when playing this game. If you choose to roll up treats like I do, please please please supervise your dog to make sure they don't eat the whole roll. I supervise Leo every time. If you're watching your dog and see them chewing on the whole roll, then you'll be able to stop and correct the behavior immediately and/or take away the game before they consume the rolls and end up at the E.R.]

Now the ball is all ready to be torn apart! :-D

Here's a video of Leopold playing with his ball:

Leopold gets to have fun over and over, and the carnage is easy to clean up:

JW Pet also makes a similar type ball called a "Hol-ee Mol-ee Extreme". Much sturdier with thicker walls. you can see a photo here (at the bottom): http://www.jwpet.com/dog/tredetails.html

I recently got one for my dogs--they love it just as much as the Hol-ee Roller.It only comes in 5", though, and might be a little big for a 6lb shitzu maltese. But then again, maybe it'd be perfect.If you go this route, lemme know how it goes :-)

My dog is more likely to eat the strips of fabric. Flatcoated Retrievers have been known to eat socks, pants towels etc and they get stuck in their gut. Then it is a costly trip to the veterinarian to get the eaten object removed. So this would need to be monitored to ensure the dog does not eat any fabric strips.

I have a JR and she has disemboweled just about everything ... :( She takes squeakers out and ..just about any stuffing there is. This looks so much safer. I would dearly love to buy her one. I don't think the eating of the fabric would be an issue for her...she would hone in on the treats for sure! But I would supervise her at all times. Please ...where ... here...take my money!

Hi Lauragreat idea - I am a veterinary nurse in Australia and I have a small business dedicated to environmental enrichment for pets (www.petsneedalifetoo.com and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pets-Need-A-Life-Too/118534761565717?ref=hl)I was just about to order some Hol-ee Roller for my stock range - I was wondering if you would mind if I used your photo and/or video to illustrate its use.look forward to hearing from youGillian Shippen

I'm so happy I found this post! I originally saw your photos on Pinterest, but it didn't link back to anything- it took some creative Googling to get here. I just made this for my dog and he LOVES it- I'm so happy I can accurately credit your blog instead of a random Pinterest post!

***WARNING*** I thought this idea was wonderful for another meal dispensing toy for Cash the Pit Bull. I thought it would be economical as well as great for him in many ways. He has NEVER been a dog to eat anything but food! All disemboweled toys end up with their shredded remains all over the house.

I gave him his meal with this setup twice already, watched him closely, and was very satisfied that he was opening each roll to remove the kibble.

Tonight, I saw him chewing something in a funny way when I gave him this toy. I told boyfriend I was concerned he swallowed one of the fleece rolls with the food inside. Boyfriend thought I was crazy since he also knows Cash only swallows food things.

We watched closely and saw a fleece roll go into his mouth and not come out. We rushed him to emergency vet, where they induced vomiting, and he threw up 10 FLEECE ROLL PIECES!!!! No idea how he slipped this many in without our seeing. Our best guess is he thought he was super smart and thought that he'd save himself a step by swallowing the whole things instead of picking out the kibble.

Even if you trust that your dog doesn't eat stuffing, DO NOT ROLL FOOD FOR YOUR DOG IN THIS TOY!!!! The vet thinks he threw up all of the pieces, but she isn't sure. If there is a blockage, I have no resources left financially, and it is going to be a very bad situation.

I'm so sorry that your dog decided to "save a step" while trying to get at treats, and i'm sorry you didn't notice it happening until it had eaten 10 pieces! At least you noticed, though, and were able to get your dog to the vet to induce vomiting to bring those pieces up.

As someone who works at a Vet ER and who owns a dog who will regularly eat fabric/leather/anything if not supervised, i know it can be a scary, serious, and expensive experience. I'm sorry to hear you had to go through such an experience.

As it says in the warning on this post, its always a good idea to supervise your dog whenever they're playing with any toy--especially anything made of fabric (whether a stuffed toy, fleece pieces, or otherwise.... ). I supervise Leopold every time I give him this activity--even though he's never eaten anything but food. For that matter, I supervise my dogs whenever they're playing with any toy that they could potentially swallow--whether on purpose or on accident.

Your experience is an unfortunate reminder of why it so important to supervise your dog. I hope others will be reminded to supervise their dogs as well.

This idea inspired me to purchase the XL holee roller for my tortoise! I had been trying for months to come up with a hay rack for his enclosure on which he would not injure himself. He has scars from trying to get through a wire fence to get some grass. All hay racks are either metal or very breakable plastic (he has managed to break plastic plates and a pyrex pie plate!). I tried cardboard boxes with a small hole cut in it, but after a few weeks he figured out how to destroy them and I was having trouble keeping boxes in stock. It took him a few weeks to figure out how to use his new "hay ball" but now I simply stuff it every morning before I go to work and it's empty when I get home. He loves it! He can bite it, climb on top of it, knock it around. He knows when I pick up his ball it's breakfast time!

This is wonderful!! :-DI have a soft spot in my heart for tortoises and turtles. I someday hope to have a good set up to have a tortoise of my own; I'll remember your "hay ball" idea when that day comes!

I have always enjoyed having one of the large dog breeds and it wasn’t until my brother brought home a Beagle puppy from college that I had ever had any real contact with a little dog. It’s not that I don’t like little dogs, there are some really cute small dog breeds, and it’s just that I have grown so accustomed to having one of the large dog breeds that I can’t imagine having other type puff dog. Looking for large dog breeds for families Wondering what large dog breeds are good with kids or would be good for apartments Find out here A complete list of large dog breeds

Such a pity that so much dog politics can get in the way of 'pure' dog appreciation! All this info sounds a little familiar to some of what I have read about Schipperkes and the national shows that occur here. Both my dogs are tail-less, (not born that way!) because of the 'standard', I asked if my first dog, just a couple of weeks old then, if they would leave her tail insitu, but apparently they took it on day 3 of her life. Such a shame! Now of course this is illegal and Schipperkes are allowed to keep their tails, and such cute little tails they are! The Border Collie is such a gracious and stunning looking animal. Great post!!! Looking for large dog breeds for families Wondering what large dog breeds are good with kids or would be good for apartments Find out here A complete list of large dog breeds

Thank you so much for the post! I am constantly trying to find toys that my Golden Doodle, Onyx, won't tear apart in a ten minute time frame. I especially hate cleaning up the mess of stuffing I find all over my house. This is a great idea!!Philip

We just made one of these for our yorkie mix and he loves it. We would buy nice little toys for him and he would destroy them in less than a day taking the squeaker out and all the stuffing. This keeps him buys for hours. Well and us too. LOL. Thanks for the idea.

Thanks for the fantastic idea! I just put together one of these for our new Samoyed that we adopted just about a month ago. I can't wait to see if he likes it! He sure does enjoy dis-embowling certain toys but is always so fastidious not to swallow any of the fluff or fabric. One suggestion though - I would highly recommend that you not use fleece around pets or children. Not many people know this, but fleece is prone to not only catching on fire quite easily, but also exploding. It doesn't take much heat at all to make this happen. When exposed to heat, fleece fibers will literally explode, sending hot molten shrapnel everywhere. When that molten shrapnel lands on skin, it causes the worst possible burns because it melts onto and into the skin. It's really, really horrendous.Personally I can't believe anyone even sells fleece products for children or pets. I've seen how it explodes and the burns it can cause. It's not pretty! They've tried to make it okay by soaking a lot of fleece products in all sorts of fire-retardant chemicals, but most of those chemicals don't last beyond a few typical household washings.

Anyway, for our holee roller ball we cut up old cotton knit t-shirts that were falling apart. T-shirt knit works really well cause it's still easy for a dog to grip, easy to cut up into strips, and it won't fray too quickly. Just a thought!

hi Heather. Thanks for your comment! I do know that polar fleece is made of synthetic fibers and will melt if exposed to flame, but I've never heard of it exploding before! I'm having trouble finding information online to verify-- do you have a link you could send me with information about this phenomenon? I'm very curious as I occasionally work with fleece in some of my art projects and safety is important to me.

I love the idea of using old t-shirts for this activity! It gives the them one more purpose before they get tossed. How did the t-shirt strips hold up over time?

I'm trying this tomorrow for my dog who's suffering from superstation anxiety after a move. She's super good driven so I think she will like this. I couldn't find fleece but I did find some microfibre clothes to cut up would that still be okay?

My Gracie is a champion toy dis-emboweler! I used this basic idea but cut the strips about 10" long, wove them through the ball openings, double knotted them in place, then stuffed the ends inside. There's still the fun of pulling the strips out, but they don't end up all over your floor, and hopefully don't get swallowed either!

I'm so glad you like this idea! I'm so sorry for the slow reply; Life has been getting away from me lately.If you haven't found the ball yet, there's always amazon.com. That's where I get mine. There's a link at the end of the post that can take you directly to the product. :-)Thanks for reading!

Hi Laura, I run an in-home dog boarding and training facility on Long Island, N.Y. Home Instead of Alone, Inc.)and I am always repairing toys until I deem them 'unrecognizable'.... and eventually throw them away! My own personal dog is a very firm believer that the stuffing in every toy is a manufacturer's defect, and it is his personal 'job' to right this wrong!!!!!

I have since switched to buying the 'Skinneeeez' stuffing-less toys, and interactive treat-ball toys. But even then, the replacement treats do get pricey for my lovable power-chewer!!

Needless to say, I spend a fortune constantly replacing toys! I thought this was a brilliant idea you came up with and I am very excited to try it! After I see how my boy does with it, I would like to add your link to my company Facebook page, as I am always offering my clients and friends fresh ideas to try! I hope that is okay with you!!Thanks for thew wonderful new idea!!Sincerely,Suzanne HantkeOwner, Home Instead of Alone, Inc.

About Me

Hello! My name is Laura. I am currently a stay-at-home-mother caring for one wonderful little boy, two pound puppy mutts, and of course one grown and very handsome man who would be oh-so lost without me! Though... I would also be lost without him, so thank goodness we have eachother.
My interests are endless and include much of the natural world, but I suppose the three main things that define my life so far are ecology, dogs, and art.
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